The Pegu Range ( my, ပဲခူးရိုးမ; Pegu Yoma or Bago Yoma) is a range of low mountains or hills
[Seekins, Donald M. (2006) ''Historical dictionary of Burma (Myanmar)'' Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland]
page 357
and uplands between the
Irrawaddy and the
Sittaung River
The Sittaung River ( my, စစ်တောင်းမြစ် ; formerly, the Sittang or Sittounghttps://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/8th-uncsgn-docs/inf/8th_UNCSGN_econf.94_INF.75.pdf ) is a river in south central Myanmar in Ba ...
in central
Burma (Myanmar). The range runs from
Mount Popa
Mount Popa (, ) is a dormant volcano 1518 metres (4981 feet) above sea level, and located in central Myanmar in the region of Mandalay about southeast of Bagan (Pagan) in the Pegu Range. It can be seen from the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River ...
in the north to
Singuttara Hill (Theingottara Hill) in the south. Both the
Pegu River and the Sittaung River originate in the Pegu Range.
High points
Among the notable peaks or hilltops are high
Mount Popa
Mount Popa (, ) is a dormant volcano 1518 metres (4981 feet) above sea level, and located in central Myanmar in the region of Mandalay about southeast of Bagan (Pagan) in the Pegu Range. It can be seen from the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River ...
, a
stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and pe ...
,
[Moore, Elizabeth H. (2007) ''Early landscapes of Myanmar'' River Books, Bangkok, page 44, ] Binhontaung ,
[topographic map, 1:250,00]
Thayetmyo, Burma, NE 46-4
Series U542, United States Army Map Service, October 1959 Kodittaung ,
Phoe-Oo Taung
and Singguttara Hill (Theingottara Hill).
Geology
The Pegu Range consists of folded and faulted
Paleogene
The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...
marine sediments
Marine sediment, or ocean sediment, or seafloor sediment, are deposits of insoluble particles that have accumulated on the seafloor. These particles have their origins in soil and rocks and have been transported from the land to the sea, main ...
combined with more recent
volcanic
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
s.
History
The
Shwedagon Pagoda
The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ); mnw, ကျာ်ဒဂုၚ်; officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' ( my, ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော်, , ) and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda is a gilded stupa ...
was built sometime before 1000 A.D. on Singguttara Hill.
The Pegu Range was the original site of the 1930-1931
Saya San uprising against the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
. Saya San raised the flag of independence on Alantaung Hill near
Tharrawaddy.
Later the Pegu Range became a center for the
Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma (CPB), also known as the Burma Communist Party (BCP), is a clandestine communist party in Myanmar (Burma). It is the oldest existing political party in the country.
Founded in 1939, the CPB initially fought ag ...
.
Ecology
The northern end of the Pegu merges into the Burmese ''Dry Belt'', while in the south there is over 80 inches of rainfall a year.
[Stamp, L. Dudley (1930) "Burma: An Undeveloped Monsoon Country" ''Geographical Review'' 20(1): pp.86-109, page 105] The hills of the Pegu Range were originally heavily forested with
teak
Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...
and other commercially exploitable hardwoods.
The southern forests were "ironwood forests", while the central and northern forests were teak.
[de Terra, Hellmut (1944) "Component Geographic Factors of the Natural Regions of Burma" ''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'' 34(2): pp. 67-96, page 82] Extensive logging has caused the present
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
and increased erosion in the area.
Notes
{{reflist
Mountain ranges of Myanmar